Sheet piling mechanism



Jan. 12,' 1932.

A. W. RYAN ET AL SHEET Filed Aug. 23, 1929 FILING MECHANISM 5Sheets-Sheet l wwww INVENTOR All A TTORNE Y.

Jan. 12, 1932. A. w. RYAN ET Al. i 1,840,370

` SHEET FILING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 23, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 nsmamsJ-xTVM i Jan. 12, 1932. A. w. RYAN ET AL 1,840,370

SHEET FILING MECHANI SM Filed Aug. 23, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I N VENTORS Patented dan. 12, 1932 *UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUGUST W. RYANAND FRANK E. TUBBS, OF ZANESV'ILLE, AND TERRENCE W. ALLS- WORTH, OFMIDDLETOWN, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE AMERICAN ROLLINGl MILL COMPANY, OFMIDDLETOWN, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO SHEET' PILING MECHANISMApplication led August 23, 1929. Serial No. 388,009.

Our invention pertains to the automatic piling of sheets, and its objectis to provide a mechanism which will control the stacking of sheetsatthe end of delivery means in such a way that sheets moving upon aconveyor serially may be automatically stacked one on top the other in apositive manner and with the minimum marring of the sheets surface. Ourinvention will be described in connection with the stacking of iron andsteel'slieets, but it will be understood that its u tilit is not confined thereto. It is possible, o course, to

I stack sheets at the end of a delivery mechanism by providing asomewhat lower table to receive the sheets and a back stop against whichthey may strike as they are being fed. Such a stacking mechanism is hardon the sheets in that it involves the movement or sliding thereof oneover another, and it has not proved successful with highly iinishedsheets, excepting possibly where the sheets may be oiled.

It is an object of our invention to provide a mechanism which will stacksheets without causing them'to sli one over the other, and with aminimum o scratching. To this end it is an object of our invention ytoprovide means'to position a sheet above a pile, and then allow it tofall upon the pile.

These and other objects of our invention, which will be pointed outhereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading"these speciications, we accomplish by that certain construction andarrangement of parts of which we shall now describe a preferredembodiment, reference being had to the drawings accompanying thisapplication.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is.a side elevation of our sheet piler.

Figure 2 is a top plan View.

Figure 3 is an end elevation.

Broadly speaking, in our mechanism we provide in a suitable-framework)side guides for the sheet pile, andV upon these side guides, railsadapted to serve as a conveyor for sheets, or a continuation of aconveyor, by which sheets are fed into the device. The sheets ride uponthese rails until they come into the proper position above the pile. Weprovide means whereby at this point, the rails may be removed frombeneath the sheets, and the sheets allowed to fall directly downwardlyonto the pile. We have devised means whereby the sheet may operate ytherail removal device automatically, so that the piling mechanism does`not need the attention of an operator, excepting for the removal of apile when formed, and for the adjustment of our mechanism when it is tobe set for a new sheet size.

Our mechanism comprises a supporting framework, resting upon feet l, andhaving a series of upright members 2, and top cross members indicatedgenerally at 3. cross members may be, if desired, truss shaped forgreater strenvth. Ve provide intermediate the side member 2, rails 4,which are conveniently in the shape of angle irons, at a proper level toreceive sheets and provided with a series of rollers 5 to facilitate theconveying of the sheets. It will be understood that the sheets from asource not shown, which may be a conveyor or, say, a

roller leveler, are delivered upon the rails 4.-, and ride therealong,their edges being supported by the rollers 5. The sheets will be such ashave sufficient stiffness in proportion to their width, to be carriedalong by a support underneath opposite edges. Piling guides 6 areprovided, having a portion 6a adapted to extend upright in parallelrelationship and 'form guides between which the sheets may fall and cometo rest upon the top of a pile, with their edges in alignment. The otherextension of the guide members is provided with a slot 6b, through whicha bolt 7 may extend, fitted with a hand nut 8, for the purpose offastening the guiding members adjustably to supports 9, attached to theframe. This arrangement makes it possible to varythe distance apart ofthe parallel upright portions 6a of opposed guides, so as to accommodatedifferent widths of sheet, when this may become necessary.

-The rails 4 are supported by link members 10, pivoted in the framework.It is convenient to eii'ect this, as at l1, by mounting the links 10upon a shaft 12; but the pivoting may be otherwise accomplished. Theobject These 1- is to provide the rails 4 to serve as a conveyor,supporting the edges of sheets when it is 1n one position, but movablefrom that position to disengage the sheet edges and allow the sheets tofall. The relationship of the rails 4 and the guides 6 will indicate howthe pile will be formed between the portions 6a of the latter. It willbe understood that a table or a truck may be placed within our apparatusand between or beneath the portion 6a to receive the sheets. It isconvenient to provide for the raising and lowering of such a table or ofthe support upon a truck, so that the sheets will not have so far tofall; :and it is possible to lower the pile somewhat with the additionof each sheet so as to prevent not only the marring ofthe sheets, suchas might occur in a long drop, but any fluttering of the sheets duringthe descent thereof. To provide for the adjustability of the rails, itiS convenient to mount the shafts 12 in blocks 13 and 13a, which may, ifdesired, be mounted upon supplementary shafts 14. The block 13a isthreaded within, and the portion of the shaft 14 upon which the block13arides, is also threaded, so that by a turning of the shaft, the block13a may be moved therealong. The shaft 14 is journaled in the framework,and it may be provided with a handle 15 in the form of a wrench, so asto facilitate the adjustment of the rails toward or from each other. Ifone of the rails is thus made adjustable, the other need not be made so,and accordingly we have shown only the left hand rail in Figure 3 asadjustable, thoughy of course both may be if deslred. It will be seenthat when a sheet rests upon the rails 4 in proper position, the railsmay be swung outwardly simultaneously, and the sheet allowed to fallbetween the guides 6.

To move the rails in this fashion, we have provided a motor, comprisingan air cylinder 16, bolted to a cross member 3 of the framework, andprovided'with a piston 17. The piston rod 18 is connected to a yoke 19,which in turn is pivoted through links 20 to bell cranks 21 and 22. Thebell crank 21 is pivoted 4 bymeans of a link 23 to a bracket 24 on the.right hand `rail in Figure 3, 0r upon the link member 10. The bellcrank 22 will also be connected to the left hand rail or a supportthereof.; but in as much as this rail is adjustable, the linkage in thiscase takes the form of a nut 25, pivoted to a member on the rail 4, orto the link 10, and a screw shaft 26, operating in a collar 27 on theend of the bell crank 22. Avhand wheel 28 or other device is provided toturn the gear shaft 26 to effect the adjustability aforementioned. Itwill be clear that an upward motion of the yoke 19 will tend'to draw therails 4 closely together, while a downward motion thereof will tend toLseparate them, as shown in the dotted lines of ,Figure 3. Since thecylinder 16 is adapted to exert power in forcing the yoke downwardly,

spring means are provided to pull it up again. These means may be anydesired. In the specific embodiment shown, we have surrounded the pistonrod 18 with a coil tension spring 29, which is connected to the yoke orthe rod at one end, and 'to the cylinder or the frame of our machine atthe other.

It will be noticed that the cylinder 16 and v the lever4 arms arelocated approximately in the center of our device, while the bell cranksare pivoted to supports 30. To control the outward motion of the rails4, we have provided on either side, stops 31 and 31a, at-

tached to the framework. The stops 31a' vevenly and in unison. However,the stops 31 and 31a control this movement because, should one rail tendto move out first, or should one end of either rail tend to moveoutwardly, before the other end, its motion will be halted against thestops and the continuing action of the cylinder 16 will force the other.rail or the other end of the rail' out into proper position. LIt willbe understood that all this happens very quickly, andbefore there hasbeen time for the sheet to become skewed, even if the initial motion isuneven.

In order to prevent a sheet being skewed by adhering to one rail morethan to the opposite rail, i. e. to provide means for positivelyremovingthe sheet from the rails, the guides 6 are provided with `extensions orngers 33. The rails 4 are cut out to accommodate these fingers, whichextend up above the tops of the vrollers 5, and are thus adapted toengage the edge of a sheet, if it tends to ride with the rail during theoutward motion thereof. By proportioning the cut-outs, or by placing aplate 34 over the cut-out portion of the rail, as shown in Figure 1, thefingers 33 may be caused to act as stops to limit the motion of therails into sheet feeding position, and to act in the same way as thestops 31 and. 31a in controlling the motion of the rails out of sheetfeeding position.

e For the automatic control of our mechanism, we provide a lever 35extending down into the path of the sheets between the rails and pivotedto a supporting member 36, which is arranged to be slidable along a bar37 in the frame. This lever is connected by means of a link 38 to asecond lever 39, arranged to operate an air valve 40, also placed uponthe supporting member 36. The flexible hose 41 connects this valve withthe cylinder 16, and

another flexible hose, not shown, connects the valve with a source ofcompressed air. The lever 35 may be provided, if desired, with a stop 42adapted to strike the bar 37, and limit the forward motion of-the lever.The lever not only serves to operate the releasing mechanism, whichmoves the rails and permits the sheet to fall, but also serves as a stopfor the sheets, for which purpose it has been found to be quiteaccurate. Sheets are stopped with their ends in an alignment, which doesnot vary by more than one-half inch. A supplementary stop may, ofcourse, be provided, if

Y desired, or means may be taken to prevent the conveyor mechanismsoutwardly from bencath a sheet, said guides having portions extendingthrough said conveyor mechanisms to hold said sheet during the movementof said mechanisms.

2. In a sheet piling device, side guides for a pile of sheets, a pair ofconveyor mechanisms for supporting sheets, means for moving saidconveyor mechanisms outwardly from beneath a sheet, said guides havingportions extending through said conveyor mechanisms to hold said sheetduring the movement of said mechanisms, and means actuated by said sheetfor operating said moving means.

3. In a sheet piler, a framework and a pair of conveyingr rails adaptedto receive sheets, side guides for a pile of sheets, said guides havinga portion extending into the normal sheet path, and automatic means formoving said rails outwardly.

4. In a piling mechanism a frame work, an opposed pair of conveyingrails, pivoted upon supporting members in said framework so as to hangdownwardly, and means for moving said rails outwardly comprising asingle motor and inversely arranged operative connections from saidmot-or to either rail, and stop means on said frame limiting the outwardmotion of said rails, opposed guides for defining the edges of a pile ofsheets, said guides upon one side being connected to said frameadjustably, said guides having a portion extending throughtl said railsinto the plane of the normal sheet path whereby sheets may be heldduring the movement of said rails.

5. In a piling mechanism a framework, an opposed pair of conveyingrails, pivotedupon supporting members lin said framework s'o as to hangdownwardly, and means for moving saidrails outwardly comprising a singlemotor and universally arranged operatlve.

connections from said motor to either rail, and stop means on said framelimiting the outward motion of said rails, opposed u ides for definingthe edges of a pile of sheets, said guides upon one side being connectedto said frame adjustably, said guides having a portion extending throughsaid rails into the plane of the normal sheet path whereby sheets. maybe held during the movement of said rails, and means on said railscooperating with said projections on the guides whereby said proJectionson the guides may serve as members limiting the inward motion of saidlrails.

6. In a p1l1ng mechanism a framework, 'an

opposed pair of conveying rails, pivoted upon supporting members in saidframework so as to hang downwardly, and means for moving said railsoutwardly comprising a single motor and inversely arranged operativecon-v nections from said motor to either rail, stop means on said framelimiting the outward motion of said rails, opposed guides for definingthe edges of a pile of sheets, said guides upon one side 'beingconnected to said frame adjustably, said guides having a portionextending through said rails into the plane of the normal sheet pathwhereby sheets may be held during the movement of said rails.

7. In a piling mechanism a framework, an opposed pair of conveyingrails, pivoted upon supporting members in said framework so as to hangdownwardly, and means for moving said rails outwardly, and stop means onsaid frame limiting the outward motion of said rails, opposed guides fordefining the edges of a pile of sheets, said guides upon one side atleast being connected to said frame adjustabl said guides having a.portion extending -t rough said rails into the plane of the normal sheetpath whereby .sheets may be held during the movement of said rails,

said means for moving said rails outwardly comprising a pressurecylinder and inversely arranged operative connections from said cylinderto either rail, one of said connections having an adjustable link toallow for the adjustment of the said rail.

8. In a piling mechanism a framework, an opposed pair of conveyingrails, pivoted upon supporting members in said framework so as to hangdownwardly, and means for moving said rails outwardly, and stop means onsaid frame limiting the outward motion of said rails, opposed guides fordefining the edges of a pile of sheets, said guides upon one side beingconnected to said frame ladjustably, said guides having a portionextending through said rails into the plane of the normal sheet pathwhereby sheets may be held yduring the movement of land inverselyarranged operative connections fromsaid cylinder to either rail, and

means actuated by said sheets to control said means for moving therails.

9,. In a piling mechanism a framework, an'o'pposed pair of conveyingrails, pivoted upon supporting members in said framework, so as to hangdownwardly, and means for moving said rails outwardly, and stop means onsaid frame limiting the outward motion of said rails, opposed guides fordel iining the edges of a pile of sheets, said guides Vupon one sidebeing connected to said frame adjustably, said guides having a portionextending throu h said rails into the plane of the normal s ieet pathwhereby sheets may be held during'the movementl of said rails, saidmeans for moving said rails 4outwardly comprising a pressure cylinderand inversely arranged operative connections from said cylinder toeither rail, and

Ameans actuated by said sheets to control said means for moving therails, and comprising a lever with a portion in the path of said sheets,and a portion adapted to operate a valve, said lever adapted to act as astop for said sheets.

10. In a piling mechanism a framework, an opposed pair of conveyingrails, pivoted upon supporting members in said frame- -work so as tohang downwardly, and means saidmeans for moving said rails outwardlycomprising a pressure cylinder and linversely arranged operativeconnections -from said cylinder to either rail, and means :actuated bysaid sheets to control said means for moving the rails, and comprising alever with a portion in the path of said sheets, and a portion adaptedto operate a-valve, said lever adapted to act as a stop for. saidsheets, said lever mounted upon a member movable with reference to saidframework to accommodate different lengths of sheets.

11. In av sheet piling mechanism,v side guides for a pile,l Jsupportsfor a sheet 1ocated near the top of said guides, said guides.

having portions extending into the plane of a sheet on said supports,means for conveying the sheet over said supports, and meansl forremoving said supports from beneath a sheet.

12. In a mechanism' for piling sheets of. relatively great area andthinness, supports engaging under opposite edge portions of said sheets,-movable in opposite directions out from under said portions to allowthev sheets to drop, and means at intervals .along said supports,engageable with the adJacent edges o a sheet on said supports to preventlateral displacement of the sheet along with either outwardly movingsupport.

13. In a mechanism for pilingy sheets of relatively great area andthinness, supports engaging under opposite edge portions of said sheets,movable in opposite directions out from under said portions to allow thesheets to drop, said supports having recesses at intervals along saidsupports, and means engageable through the respective recesses with theadjacent edges of a sheet on said supports to prevent lateraldisplacement ofthe sheet-along with either outwardly moving support.

v14. In a sheet piling mechainsm, a pair of laterally spaced railsadapted to receive and afford vertical support to the lateral edges of asheet as it is moved longitudinally between them, means for supportingthe rails, means for simultaneously moving both rails outwardlyrelatively to their supporting means so as to withdraw their supportfrom the sheet and permit it to fall, means carried by said supportingmeans for guiding the lateral edges ofthe sheet during its descent, andmeans postioned to engage Dwith the sheet to prevent movement of thesheet with either one of said rails when the rail moves outwardly asaforesaid, to hold the sheet in substantial vertical alignment with saidguiding means, so that the sheet upon being released bythe outwardlymoving rails, drops with the desired accuracy between said guidingmeans.

` AUGUST W. RYAN. l FRANK E. TUBBS. TERRENCE W. ALLSWORTH.

